i don't know why you say グッバイ — i say ハロー

I think I’ve done one too many Vana’diel Benches on my brother’s work-in-progress rig to the point where I think I’m getting a bit homesick for Final Fantasy XI. (For the record, no, he doesn’t play FFXI.)

So, basically, it’s the Safeway brand of Generic Hamburger Helper-Esque Product without the hamburger, stuffed into supposedly “soft taco size” tortillas. I felt like eating Hamburger Helper today (there’s not a great variety of quick-heat food options ’round the house, and it’s been a while since I’ve actually prepared something, pre-mixed or not), so I passed by Safeway, and they just happened to be having a sale on it. Then, I passed by the tortillas, which were also on sale. I decided to experiment.

I’d like to declare this experiment a pretty tasty success. I’ll be right back as I recover from the ensuing foodcoma.

I don’t know why this gets brought up, but lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of –
“I hear that you had a lot of disagreements and arguments with the staff behind the anime adaptation of Azumanga Daioh, and that’s why you’re not making a Yotsubato! anime. Is this rumor really true?”
– this kind of question.
What’s that all about?

Normally, the way I treat the childish rumors that go around is that I just ignore them.
But this particular question has been coming up quite a bit, so I might as well answer it here:
Eh, the rumor’s false…

…Well. Why hasn’t Yotsuba been animated yet?
The biggest problem is that it’d be pretty difficult to realize Yotsuba&! in animated form.
Let’s take a look at what it’d be like if it were to be animated.

For example, a scene where Yotsuba goes on a trip to the Ayase household.
Yotsuba opens the door, runs in, says “Hello”.
Within several seconds, this particular scene has already finished…

…[I think perhaps] Yotsubato! must stay in manga form for it to remain Yotsubato!.

To be honest, I never really had thought of it that way. In retrospect, Azumanga Daioh in itself had quite a bit of filler, too.

(Yes, I’m aware Anime News Network has reported on it. The first draft of this post was done during a bout of insomnia at about four in the morning. I woke up and there the ANN post was in my feed reader.)

I grabbed my copies of the English-version Yotsubato! manga (all two of them, heh) to investigate whether or not the way Azuma writes the manga really wouldn’t at least be fit for a one-episode OVA. Imagining the first chapter of the series as though it were the first episode of an anime, I clocked in at 18 minutes. Add an OP, an ED, the preview for the next episode, and one minute of filler, and bam, there’s an episode of Yotsubato!. The pauses that Azuma put in would feel just like the pauses that JC Staff gave to Azumanga – except this time intentional.

Certainly, the first chapter or episode of any given series isn’t the best indicator of what kind of rhythm the show or novel will fall into later on, but given that example, I think perhaps he chose an example that was too extreme. But at the same time, so did I; I chose a pretty fast-paced first chapter. There has to be some sort of middle ground that an OVA production can take and mold into something beautiful; the series does not feel entirely unadaptable. And there’s plenty of stuff to work with.

But unfortunately, it seems that Azuma is against the notion for the time being. That’s something that I at least have to respect.

In the meantime, I suppose I should, sometime, buy English volumes 3~6, and a Danboard figure to go along with volume 4. It’d be a nice addition to my little Corner O’ Anime Goods.

This post was originally an ode to Hidamari Sketch x365, having just finished it off two days after the guys at SpoonSubs released the last episode. Why is it so good? Why did the show never fail to envelop me in a blanket of warm slice-of-life goodness? Why are Hiro and Sae so damn lesbian and why do I find such a pairing so amusing?

But then I watched episode 9 of Clannad After Story and it flashed back to a handful of scenes in the original series that involved Nagisa Furukawa, and I wept.

There’s certainly enough space in my heart for both. I can’t say yet that a single Nagisa can stand in for my love of the wonderful Sunshine Apartments crew. There’s a good chance that she might, as I bear witness to After Story, and perhaps weep some more.

So, at Sunnyvale Golfland, the US version of Arc System Works’ BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger(well, “export” is typed in shorthand on the box that the kit shipped in) came in, and over Thanksgiving Break, basically the San Jose Melty Blood crew showed up to practice, play, and learn.

I decided that perhaps some videos of early gameplay were in order. Here’s one, and you can find two more after the break.

In the case that I get a wonderful, wonderful readership stretching into the six digit range (thank you, thank you all! I feel so loved), I’ve prepared a favicon for bookmark bars, and for iPhone/iPod Touches (love ya, Dan).

[21:44] SpiritsnareAlpha: also I just realized that every Key protagonist is, in some way, a delinquent[21:45] mduo13: Suppose so[21:45] SpiritsnareAlpha: Yuuichi is a freeloader; Yukito starts homeless and becomes a freeloader and becomes homeless again; Tomoya is a delinquent; and Riki is dragged into delinquency[21:45] mduo13: Riki is the least delinquent of them, though[21:45] SpiritsnareAlpha: It’s true[21:45] SpiritsnareAlpha: I had to stretch that, admittedly[21:45] mduo13: also, Yuuichi usually tries not to be a freeloader[21:45] mduo13: sorry[21:45] mduo13: Yukito[21:45] mduo13: I always mix up their names[21:46]SpiritsnareAlpha: You can make a case for either one[21:46] mduo13: Yukito actually has a job, of sorts[21:46] SpiritsnareAlpha: Too bad he never gets money from his main job, hahahaha[21:47] mduo13: I think Tomoya is the most delinquent[21:47] SpiritsnareAlpha: Yeah, definitely

Not included in the list: people in a post-apocalyptic world breaking into planetariums. That’s also a stretch, though, but it works!

2. I know I mentioned that this wasn’t an anime blog, but it certainly feels like it is, huh? Not that it’s a bad thing, I guess. I could wax poetic about how the local Mexican chicken place ’round here is quite tasty, but I’m saving restaurant reviews for another time.